Door pillar



Jan. 925- W. M. AUSTIN DOOR PZLLM! F11od Jan. 5, 92

Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

PAEN FICE.

WILLIAM 1VI. A'USTIN, OF AI1IESBURY, IVIASSACHUSET'CS, ASSGNOR TO J. B JULDKINS COMPANY, OF I\ERBIIAC, i/i'ASSACH'USETTS, A CGRORATION 'F IVIASSACIIUSETTS.

DOGR PILLAR.

Applicaton fi1ed June 3,

T0 aZZ whom /t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. USTIN, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Amesbury, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massaehusetts, have invented an Improvement in Door Pillars, of Whieh the o1iowing is a specifieation.

In the eonstruetion of bodies of certain vehicles and more particularly of cosed body automobiies, it is common, in many types of bodies, to have the lower portion of the sides of the body curved inwardiy as they extend downward. This involves a eorresponding ormation of the 10We1 portion of the doors, which, in such constructions, usualiy curve inwardly from a point adjaeent the middle thereof, the eurvature usua1ly being most pronounced in the lowest portion thereof. These doors usually have inner and outer sides providing an intermediate space 10r the sliding window glass, and are constructed on a frame, the upright portions of which are termed pillars, one of whieh is provided at each verticai edge. When the doors are curved invvard, as above described, these pi1iars are usually sawed trom whole stock, and not bent, to the exact eurvature desired. It has been ound that for some reason or reasons, the curved portion, even though not bent from its original formation, after it has been in use for a few months usually begins to straighten, so that the upper and 10Wer portions of the door swing outvvard with relation to the middie portion thereof, with the result that when the door is closed, the outer surface of its upper and lower portions will not be flush with the outer surface of the adjaeent portion of the body, as it was when originally construetect This resu1t is high- 1y objeotionable from the standpoint, at ieast, of appearance, and for other reasons, {111Ci moreover the door does not tightly close at the bottom. Vhether this change in formation is due to something inherent in the wood, or to the blows whieh are more 01 1ess constantly sustained by the lower edge of the door in striking against the sil1 or door jamb, when the door is elosed, or to both, or whether it is due to some 0ther eause, I am not aware, but the fact remains that it is a matter of frequent occurrence, and while have, prior to my present invention, made various attempts to overcome this ditfieu1ty, as by securing suitably shaped 1924. Serial No. 717,493.

n1etal reinforcing strips to the sides of the pillar, I was not able to obviate the diffieulty satisfactorily. Moreover, the use of metal reinforcing strips en either the exterior 0r interior sides of the pillar is objeetionabie or impraeticai or severai reasons, as they weuld intertere With the attachment of the panels or ]ining of the door, as the case may be, and aside rom being expensive, if made of sufficienty heavy material te be reasonably efl'eotive, the inereased weight would be an objeetion.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means or overcoming or eounteraeting the straightening efiect above described on strips of wood which have been savved into eurved form, and to do this without adding materiaily to the cost 01: construction L1'1Ci without substantial ehange in the materiai of whieh the parts are eonstructed.

aeromplish these Objects by forming in the convex side of a strip of wood whieh has previously been eut out in curved form, an elongateci recess of uniform depth, which extends the entire width of the strip, so as to provide tWo oppositeiy faoing, transverse- 1y disposed abutments or shoulders at the ends 01. the reeess, and by providing a flexib1e wooden braee whieh is of the same Width l1(i thickness as the width and depth of the reeess, but is of slightly greater length, then placing the braee in the recess with its ends abutting against said shoulders and its middle portion sprung ontward rom the reeess bottom, and then foreing the middle portion of the brace againstthe bottom of the recess, so that its ends will be pressed ag;ainst said shoulders vvith sufficient force to eause a strong thrust action to be exerted against the ends of the fibers of the wood which terminate in said shoulders, the braee being permanently secured in this position, so that the thrust action thus seeured Wil] be oonsta1itly maintained and the straightening action above reterred to will be prevented.

For a more complete understanding of my invention, referenee is made to the aecompanying drawing in whieh:

1 is a side elevation of a portion ot an automobile body in which m v invention is embociied.

Fig 2 is an edge view o' one of the doors Fig. is a front edge view, on a larger scale of a portion of a door pillar.

and having a recess theren extendng from a point in sad surface 01 a substantal porton of the length of the strip, sad recess havng a transversely dsposed shoul de1 at each end, a fiexible wooden brace normally of slghtly greater length than the dstance between sad shoulders and otherwise corresnondng in shape t0 said recess, and means I01 forcng the end 'aces of sad brace aganst. sad shoulders by forcng the mdd1e porton of sad b1ace aganst the bottom of sad recess, and for permanently securng the brace in sad p0- stion to provide a permanently acting thrust aganst sad shoulders.

3. A strip of W00d cut nto a form 1:0 provide a convexly shaped surface portion and havng 2. recess theren extendng from a point in sad surface throughout the width thereof and longtudnally of the strip at a uniform depth for a substantal porton of the length and provdng ateach end a transversely dsposed shoulder, a wooden b1ace of equal Wdth and thckness to the wdth and depth of sad recess and havng end fases correspondng to sad shoulders, the n0rmal dstance between whch is slghtlv greater than the dstance between said shoulders, and means f0r holding said end faces in engagement Wth sad shoulders and 01 f0rc11g the intermedate portions of the brace aganst the bottom of the recess, said means beng adapted t0 held the brace permanently in ths positon t0 profide a constantly acting thrust acton 0n sad shoulders.

In testmony whereof I have sgned my name t0 th1s spec1ficat1on.

WILLIAM M. AUSTIN. 

